Toyota Prius Prime brings plug-in charging capability to iconic hybrid
Toyota’s groundbreaking Prius gasoline-electric hybrid – on the market in the U.S. for 20 years -- now comes with plug-in recharging capability to make it even more versatile.
Toyota completely redesigned the regular Prius hybrid model for 2016, bringing the fourth generation of the trendsetting gasolineelectric vehicle. But for 2017, the Prius Prime was added to the lineup.
This newest version of the Prius takes the plug-in concept and enhances it, creating a Prius hatchback that can run on battery power alone for up to 25 miles on a charge, at speeds up to 84 mph.
And when the battery gets low, the Prime’s gasoline engine kicks in, giving it the same qualities – and range – of the regular Prius hybrid. It also has a published range of up to 640 miles on a tank of fuel.
For 2021, the Prius Prime comes in three trim levels, beginning with the LE model ($28,220 plus $995 freight). The others are the XLE ($30,000) and the top-of-theline Limited ($34,000), which we tested for this report.
The Prime returns for the new model year with some minor upgrades, including an improved Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 suite of safety features.
Although we did not attempt to recharge our vehicle during our week with the Prius Prime, we also never had to add fuel to it, as the fuel gauge moved so very slowly that we still had two-thirds of a tank of gas when it was time to give the car back. That was after about 200 miles of driving mostly around our home area.
This is the fourth generation of the trendsetting Prius hybrid, whose standard versions – without the plug – range from $24,525-$32,650 for model year 2021. There are seven non-plug-in trim levels, which includes five with the standard front-wheel drive, and two with all-wheel drive.
The base model is the Prius L Eco, which has the
$24,525 price. Other nonplug-in trims include the LE ($25,735), LE AWD-e ($27,135), XLE ($28,575), XLE AWD-e ($29,575), 2020 Edition ($29,875); and the Limited ($32,650).
Although the regular Prius Liftback does not have plug-in recharging capability for its hybrid battery system, the battery is automatically recharged while the vehicle is operating on gasoline power or coasting.
With its most-recent makeover, the regular Prius improved on the already great combined EPA mileage rating of the model it replaced. Current fuel-economy estimates are 54 mpg city/50 highway/52 combined for the
regular Prius Liftback models, 52/48/50 for the all-wheeldrive models, and 58/53/56 for the Eco model, which is not to be confused with the Prime plug-in model.
The Prius Prime has EPA ratings of 55/53/54 mpg on gasoline only, but a whopping 133 mpg-e using the EPA’s special rating for plug-in hybrids, taking into account some battery-only use.
Although not the first hybrid to be introduced in the U.S., the Prius is the one most associated with the hybrid phenomenon. Introduced in 2000, the newest generation, which arrived for 2017, has a more-normal appearance than that of the previous generation, but is still readily identifiable